The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided in this application is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Online streaming services have risen to prominence as desirable alternatives to signing up for costly cable services. Services like Netflix provide consumers with an easy way to consume entertainment on demand. User generated content on websites like YouTube is also popular, and millions of people every day visit YouTube to consume content directly from content creators.
But online services have failed to meet a demand in the market for a cross between an on-demand service and a cable service. Consumers often miss the ability to just “turn on” a cable channel and watch whatever is being broadcast, but no service exists that can allow users to just “turn on” a channel that plays, for example, YouTube videos. Moreover, there is huge potential for ad revenue to be generated by providing a service that allows streamlined channel management to create playback schedules for episodic content.
No service currently exists that allows for the creation of custom channels with custom schedules, which can generate revenue for the channel operators as well as the content creators. Thus, there still exists a need for a service that allows streamlined channel management to set schedules of content that can be viewed by others.